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A law passed by Congress in December forbids funding unless the
State Department certifies that Egypt is making progress on basic freedoms and
human rights.

Hillary Clinton

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is close to
announcing plans to bypass those restrictions on national security grounds,
according to senior administration officials and others who have been briefed
on the deliberations but were not authorized to speak publicly. The
administration believes failure to provide the funds would risk worsening
already fraying ties with Egypt’s leaders, most notably the Egyptian military,
which still controls the country.

Here's your bread, Dawg

Under the plan, which was announced last week and
was first reported Friday by the New York Times, Egypt would not receive the
full $1.3 billion all at once, as has been the practice for decades. The
administration would instead dole out the funds in smaller portions to preserve
leverage over Egyptian authorities, officials said. The plan would also allow
for the continuation of U.S. defense contracts that provide American jobs.

Egypt's Future

With a presidential election coming in Egypt, officials said they
are especially hesitant to release the full amount until they see what kind of
government will be receiving it. The question is, "What kind of leadership will replace the military?"

The plan comes after weeks of crisis caused by criminal charges
filed by Egyptian authorities against a handful of pro-democracy workers from
the United States and other countries. The charges were condemned by U.S.
leaders and provoked heated anti-American rhetoric in Egypt.

The immediate dilemma was resolved this month when Egyptallowed the foreign workers to
leave the countryafter
posting bail. But the criminal charges remain against them as well as Egyptian
staff employed by the same nonprofit organizations.

According to administration and congressional officials,
representatives of the defense industry, who are eager to keep lucrative
contracts attached to the annual aid, have been among those lobbying behind the
scenes to resume U.S. funding. The Pentagon, which does not want to risk its
ties with the Egyptian military, one of its major allies in the region, also
has pressed the case.

Tom Malinowski

There’s been enormous pressure from the Pentagon to unfreeze
something before payments to contractors go past due,” said Tom Malinowski,
Washington director for Human Rights Watch. “But this whole argument that
American jobs are at stake just is not appropriate here when we’re talking about
human rights. This sends the wrong message that the crisis is over and has been
solved.”

This’s not a negligible factor. If contracts can’t be paid,
production lines will shut down and jobs will be lost, acknowledged one senior
administration official. But those aspects have to be balanced against other
factors such as our ability to work with the new government, how much
democratic progress has been made and where we still have concerns.

The plan is likely to draw strong criticism from Capitol Hill,
which has been highly critical of Egypt’s treatment of nongovernmental
organizations and protesters.

Patrick J. Leahy

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the main sponsor of legislation
passed last year that tied funding for Egypt to progress on democracy and
rights, said he was deeply disappointed. “I believe a waiver would be a mistake,” he said. “The new
conditions are intended to put the United States squarely on the side of the
Egyptian people who seek a civilian government that respects fundamental
freedoms and the rule of law, and to clearly define the terms of our future
relations with the Egyptian military.”

Other rights groups, including Amnesty International, also urged
Clinton not to resume the aid.

Victoria Nuland

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Clinton has not
yet reached an official decision but added: “We want to support a more
democratic and a more prosperous Egypt. And we want to see the region stay
secure. So those are a lot of things that have to be kept strong and kept in
balance.”

The relationship between the United States and Egyptian
militaries, Nuland said, “has also enabled us to have influence during this
period of transition.”

While Egypt’s generals have lobbied to resume the aid, the
country’s new parliament in recent days has discussed the possibility of
rejecting it, even though it does not have the authority to do so. “I don’t know that it even makes sense for the U.S. to be pushing
aid on Egypt,” said Michele Dunne, an Egypt expert at the Atlantic Council.
“Given everything that’s happened of late, we ought to take a fresh look at the
whole U.S.-Egypt relationship and the military aid package.”

But just after the United States decided to keep sending $1.3 billion
in annual aid to the Egyptian military, a new poll shows that most
Egyptians don't want their country to receive American financial assistance.
Pollsters say Egyptians suspect that taking money from foreigners will end up
impinging on their nation's sovereignty.

More than eight of 10
Egyptians oppose receiving aid from the United States, according to a
Gallup poll that finds opposition has grown over the last year. Egyptians are
even more strongly opposed to the U.S. sending aid to Egyptian civil society
groups, the February poll found.

Protesters in Cairo over US funding

Opposition to outside aid has
grown stronger over time, the poll of 1,000 respondents showed. Egyptian
attitudes about assistance from the U.S. soured at the same time the
country began accusing Americans working for non-governmental organizations of
trying to stir up unrest, Gallup said.

Earlier this year, Egypt sought
to prosecute 16 Americans employed by U.S.-funded groups, alleging they were
working with Egyptian groups not registered with the government. Authorities
claimed the defendants were fomenting unrest and attempting to advance U.S. and
Israeli interests.

Most of the U.S. defendants
were allowed to leave the country, though they still technically face charges.
Alone Americanhas
chosen to stay and face charges alongside other defendants.

The murky circumstances
and arrangements that resulted in the prosecution, travel limitations and then
sudden departure of U.S. citizens facing trial in Egypt has only inflamed
Egyptians' sense of distrust and suspicion regarding such organizations and
what U.S. funds mean for Egyptian sovereignty.

The case upset many
members of the U.S. Congress, leading to calls to stop sending money to
the Egyptian military. But the U.S. government decided to continue sending aiddespite the ongoing case and
restrictions on political rights that ordinarily would bar Egypt from getting
the funding.

Besides their wariness of the
U.S., Gallup found Egyptians had grown less supportiveof
aid from international groups or other Arab nations. Only 36% of Egyptians
polled were in favor of aid from the World Bank or the International Monetary
Fund and 57% favored Arab government aid.

To find funding to help Egypt
overcome its challenges, its leaders will need to show outside aid
"does not come at the cost of Egypt's sovereignty.